Says party has nothing to do with remarks made by Ravinder Raina
Sajid Raina
Bandipora, Nov 24: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National Spokesperson and Rajya Sabha member, Syed Zafar Islam on Tuesday said that the party wants peace to prevail in the Valley and that the people here are relieved from every hardship they have faced so far.
According to the news agency, Syed Zafar told reporters on the sidelines of a party convention in Sumbal that the party has nothing to do with the remarks made by Ravinder Raina, adding that he has made the statement in his individual capacity.
Pertinently, Jammu and Kashmir BJP Chief, Ravinder Raina had said that Kashmir politicians including Abdullahs and Muftis will have to chant “Jai Shri Ram” in the future if they want to live in India.
Asked about the BJP’s stand on remarks made by Ravinder Raina, Zafar said: “If anyone has made such remarks, he may have made it in his individual capacity and the party has nothing to do with it. The BJP does not endorse such views, these are his personal views and he may have realised it himself.”
He said that such a statement was not made by any senior leader from the party or anyone from the government. “This is purely his individual statement; the party does not endorse this. He had himself made it clear that it was his statement.”
Zaffar also said that as far as BJP is concerned, there is no restriction that everyone has to chant “Jai Shri Ram” but the BJP has the only motive and that is “We want to make every Kashmiri stronger”.
He said that the BJP wants peace and only peace in Kashmir and they want to make Kashmir heaven once again. “We want that there should be all-round development in Kashmir and we want to relieve every Kashmiri from hardships that they have been facing over the years,” he said—(KNO)